Worthington is Open For Business. Let’s Keep It That Way.

The Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce supports City Council’s unanimous decision to approve the rezoning of the I Am Boundless campus at 445 East Dublin-Granville Road. This was a sound decision, made through an extensive public process, by elected representatives who studied the project carefully and voted with the long-term interests of Worthington in mind. We believe it deserves recognition for what it is: a significant win for our community.

But this letter is not just about one project. It is about what that project represents, and what is at stake when Worthington chooses to welcome investment.

Worthington is at a pivotal moment. Several significant development projects are either underway or under consideration, and together they tell an important story about what kind of community we are choosing to be.

The Boundless campus redevelopment adds nearly 250 housing units to Worthington while allowing one of our top employers to expand its programming for individuals with developmental disabilities and to create 65 to 80 new on-site jobs. At the same time, Crawford Hoying, the developer behind Dublin’s celebrated Bridge Park district, has proposed a transformative mixed-use development along West Wilson Bridge Road that would replace aging 1970s office buildings with a live-work-shop-eat-and-play district: housing, condominiums, senior living, a hotel, office space, restaurants, retail, and public gathering areas. That corridor already accounts for roughly half of Worthington’s income tax collections. Reinvesting in it is not a luxury. It is a necessity. And a nationally recognized restaurant brand is replacing a vacant commercial site on East Wilson Bridge Road near I-270, bringing new jobs, new foot traffic, and new activity to a parcel that has sat underutilized for years.

These are not unrelated events. They are a pattern, and the pattern matters.

“Worthington thrives when more people have the opportunity to belong here—not only to work here, but to build a life here and remain here throughout all stages of life. A healthy range of housing options helps us attract and retain a strong workforce, provides affordable housing for seniors, while creating the kind of inclusive, vibrant community we want Worthington to be for generations to come.” Dr. Patrick Maynard, President & CEO, I Am Boundless

As President and CEO of the Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce, I hear from our 500-plus member businesses about what they need to succeed. Two things come up in nearly every conversation. They need customers and employees who can afford to live near where they work.

On workforce housing: Worthington's housing stock is approximately 85% single-family homes. That is something many of us treasure. But it also means that the teacher, the nurse, the first responder, the line cook, the retail associate, and the young professional who wants to plant roots here often cannot find anything they can afford. They commute in and spend their money elsewhere. When we add housing at a range of price points, including units accessible to working families, we are not changing the character of Worthington. We are making it possible for the people who serve our community to be part of it.

"Strong communities depend on a healthy local economy, a talented workforce and opportunities for people to live and work near where they are employed. As a longtime employer in Worthington, AAA recognizes the value of thoughtful investment that supports businesses, expands opportunities for residents and helps communities remain vibrant and competitive for the future.  I believe communities are strongest when economic growth and community character are balanced in a way that benefits residents, employers and future generations." - Andy Miller, Vice President, Business Transformation, AAA Club Alliance Inc. 

Regarding customer density: every new household that chooses Worthington becomes a customer of our local businesses. The Crawford Hoying project alone would add residents, office workers, hotel guests, senior living residents, and visitors into one walkable district, creating the kind of all-day foot traffic that helps small businesses build predictable, sustainable revenue. Mixed-use development of this kind is exactly what communities like Dublin, Grandview, and Westerville have used to create destinations that draw people and investment for decades.

Here is what I want our community to understand about how economic development actually works: projects build on each other. When a developer sees that Worthington is a place where well-planned investment is welcomed, where there is a clear and fair process and decisions made through that process are honored, they bring their next project here. When employers see that Worthington is growing thoughtfully, they expand here. When residents see a community that is investing in itself, they choose to stay.

The reverse is equally true. Uncertainty is contagious. When investment becomes a prolonged and unpredictable battle rather than a process, developers and employers quietly begin looking elsewhere. They rarely announce it. They simply stop coming. And the Worthington that results is not a carefully preserved version of the community we love. It is a diminished one, with a shrinking tax base, aging commercial corridors, and fewer options for the people who live and work here.

"Our business has called Worthington home for more than two decades. When people choose to invest here, that's something to be grateful for — there are a lot of places they could choose. If we want people to build careers here and put down roots here, we need housing that makes that possible, and we need to welcome the investment that keeps Worthington growing." Jamie Cleverley, President, Cleverley & Associates

There is a difference between a community that debates its future and a community that cannot commit to one. Worthington has always been the former, and that is worth protecting. 

Council's decision on the Boundless campus was not made in haste. It came after a public process, after careful study, after elected representatives weighed the evidence and voted. That is how good government is supposed to work, and it is how developers, employers, and residents decide whether Worthington is a place they can trust.

That trust is fragile in a specific way. It is one thing for a community to debate a project before a decision is made. It is another for a community to reverse a decision after it has already been made, after a public process has already run its course, after businesses and residents have already begun to rely on the outcome. When approvals are no longer final, every future investment carries an asterisk. Developers do not build asterisks into their plans. They build somewhere else.

Worthington does not need unanimous agreement on every project to remain the community we love. What it needs is confidence that decisions made the right way will be honored. That confidence is what keeps investment coming, keeps our tax base strong, and keeps Worthington able to choose its own future rather than watching that choice get made for us by default.

We hope our community will stand behind this decision, not because every detail is beyond debate, but because the process that produced it deserves to be trusted. Worthington is open for business. Let's keep it that way.

Annina M. Parini
President & CEO, Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce